BoxRec

Oiky wrote:No kovalev won't be getting a fair shake, but he won't need it, he will break ward down

skinnysteve wrote:slappin' soggy will be hit with so many devastating KO shots it wont matter what the ref does

boxing_rocks wrote: Unless a ref DQ'es him for one of those shots or Ward headbutts him really bad early.

Badhusker wrote:Blaming the ref before the fight even happens? Sounds like some are having second thoughts about how good the Krusher is? Pathetic.

caldo2025 wrote:

Badhusker wrote:Blaming the ref before the fight even happens? Sounds like some are having second thoughts about how good the Krusher is? Pathetic.

You do have to admit that the ref is going to be very important in this fight though right? If the ref lets them fight out of the clinch without breaking them up then Ward has a huge advantage. If the ref is strict about Ward holding with warnings and possible point infractions then it's a huge advantage for Kovalev because that will give him the space he needs to land on Ward.

The ref is the key in this one as we could have two very different outcomes depending upon how they call it.

Ian1973 wrote:Refs can be absolutely critical. Look at Mayweather v Hatton for one example the ref wouldn't let Hatton do anything inside. Hatton had no chance that night he couldn't fight "his" fight.

I'm pretty sure Hatton wouldn't have won anyway but he wasn't even given a real chance.

Badhusker wrote:

caldo2025 wrote:

Badhusker wrote:Blaming the ref before the fight even happens? Sounds like some are having second thoughts about how good the Krusher is? Pathetic.

You do have to admit that the ref is going to be very important in this fight though right? If the ref lets them fight out of the clinch without breaking them up then Ward has a huge advantage. If the ref is strict about Ward holding with warnings and possible point infractions then it's a huge advantage for Kovalev because that will give him the space he needs to land on Ward.

The ref is the key in this one as we could have two very different outcomes depending upon how they call it.

As far as I know Ward has not been penalized for fouling with many, many different refs. Kovalev needs a game plan to counter tying up, if he expects it, or cutting off the ring if he expects Ward to run. Don't blame the ref for your inability to adjust, especially when you know what is coming. Both Ward and Kovalev know that winning the fight is in their hands, no one else. Making excuses about refs before the fight happens is pretty lame. Might as well say it will be the judge's fault too, before hand.

I should also add that if Kovalev wins, they picked the perfect ref and judges, correct? Or just maybe he won because he was more skilled, etc?

boxing_rocks wrote:

Badhusker wrote:

caldo2025 wrote:
You do have to admit that the ref is going to be very important in this fight though right? If the ref lets them fight out of the clinch without breaking them up then Ward has a huge advantage. If the ref is strict about Ward holding with warnings and possible point infractions then it's a huge advantage for Kovalev because that will give him the space he needs to land on Ward.

The ref is the key in this one as we could have two very different outcomes depending upon how they call it.

As far as I know Ward has not been penalized for fouling with many, many different refs. Kovalev needs a game plan to counter tying up, if he expects it, or cutting off the ring if he expects Ward to run. Don't blame the ref for your inability to adjust, especially when you know what is coming. Both Ward and Kovalev know that winning the fight is in their hands, no one else. Making excuses about refs before the fight happens is pretty lame. Might as well say it will be the judge's fault too, before hand.

I should also add that if Kovalev wins, they picked the perfect ref and judges, correct? Or just maybe he won because he was more skilled, etc?

Tying up is not a problem. Kova will handle that. The only thing needed from the judge is to correctly qualify intentional headbutts and not to DQ Kovalev when it is clear that Ward is losing.

Ian1973 wrote:Refs can be absolutely critical. Look at Mayweather v Hatton for one example the ref wouldn't let Hatton do anything inside. Hatton had no chance that night he couldn't fight "his" fight.

I'm pretty sure Hatton wouldn't have won anyway but he wasn't even given a real chance.

BAD INTENTIONS wrote:

Ian1973 wrote:Refs can be absolutely critical. Look at Mayweather v Hatton for one example the ref wouldn't let Hatton do anything inside. Hatton had no chance that night he couldn't fight "his" fight.

I'm pretty sure Hatton wouldn't have won anyway but he wasn't even given a real chance.

Please.

Floyd outboxed RIcky on the inside and outside.
RIcky did a good job to follow Floyd around,
but the fighter who was better, BY FAR, won easily and impressively.

diddy wrote:

BAD INTENTIONS wrote:

Ian1973 wrote:Refs can be absolutely critical. Look at Mayweather v Hatton for one example the ref wouldn't let Hatton do anything inside. Hatton had no chance that night he couldn't fight "his" fight.

I'm pretty sure Hatton wouldn't have won anyway but he wasn't even given a real chance.

Please.

Floyd outboxed RIcky on the inside and outside.
RIcky did a good job to follow Floyd around,
but the fighter who was better, BY FAR, won easily and impressively.

These friggin euros are something else. Shitting on Andre Ward and Floyd Mayweather of all people. Inferiority complex at its finest.

Freedom2013 wrote:We've all seen foreign-born boxers be unfairly treated. It happens all over the world: UK, Germany, USA, etc. Ideally, referees and judges should be fair and impartial.

Nationalistic or biased referees can make a difference in fights, like we saw in Soto-Lorenzo (Joe Cortez), Mansour-Cunningham (Smoger is a friend of Cunningham), Lomachenko-Salido (Lawrence Cole), Martinez-Cintron (Frank Santore Jr) , Hatton-Mayweather (Cortez again), and Kessler-Ward (Jack Reiss).

And we all know nationalistic boxing judges can ruin a boxer's efforts. Remember Kotelnik-Alexander, Pacquiao-Bradley I, Brewster-Meehan, and Sturm-De La Hoya?

Commentators who are rooting for one fighter over another can make a difference in public opinion. If the HBO commentators are rooting for one fighter over another, they can sway the viewers. We know Max Kellerman and the other American commentators will be rooting for Andre Ward, as will John Rawling (who doesn't like Russians) on the international feed if allegedly is covering it. Dan Rafael and other American boxing journalists may become nationalistic and score all the rounds for Ward, whether he wins them or not.

Do you believe Sergey Kovalev will get a fair shake when he fights Andre Ward?

Kalan wrote:

Freedom2013 wrote:We've all seen foreign-born boxers be unfairly treated. It happens all over the world: UK, Germany, USA, etc. Ideally, referees and judges should be fair and impartial.

Nationalistic or biased referees can make a difference in fights, like we saw in Soto-Lorenzo (Joe Cortez), Mansour-Cunningham (Smoger is a friend of Cunningham), Lomachenko-Salido (Lawrence Cole), Martinez-Cintron (Frank Santore Jr) , Hatton-Mayweather (Cortez again), and Kessler-Ward (Jack Reiss).

And we all know nationalistic boxing judges can ruin a boxer's efforts. Remember Kotelnik-Alexander, Pacquiao-Bradley I, Brewster-Meehan, and Sturm-De La Hoya?

Commentators who are rooting for one fighter over another can make a difference in public opinion. If the HBO commentators are rooting for one fighter over another, they can sway the viewers. We know Max Kellerman and the other American commentators will be rooting for Andre Ward, as will John Rawling (who doesn't like Russians) on the international feed if allegedly is covering it. Dan Rafael and other American boxing journalists may become nationalistic and score all the rounds for Ward, whether he wins them or not.

Do you believe Sergey Kovalev will get a fair shake when he fights Andre Ward?

Dan Rafael is an idiot... He's one of the few people who picked Hopkins to beat Kovalev.. After the fight Rafael tried to give himself wiggle room. He had the mendacity to write that Kovalev barely escaped the 12th round because Hopkins "staggered" him with a big right -- despite the fact that the slo-mo replay showed Hopkins didn't even land the right he was talking about.. Jim Lampley also picked Hopkins to beat Kovalev, and had egg all over his face since Kovalev won 120-107.. I think Kovalev has to win this decisively, and he has to keep Ward's head out of his face because he does cut.. Ward is a great boxer though -- better than Hopkins ever was. I rank him as the best Super Middleweight so far. He fought at 178 in the amateurs and was the Olympic Gold Medal winner at that weight -- so he's a big Light Heavy and acclimated well to Light Heavyweight with 3 straight fights at LHW.. It will be tough to beat him by a substantial margin, and Kovalev may have to.